John Chen © Fire Eyes Photography 2012

John Chen knows, “You don’t get something, unless you ask for it.” Chen, CEO of the company Geoteaming, and his crew of professionals design team-building exercises on carefully crafted courses for companies around the world. They know that collaboration, communication, and having a plan are team attributes that drive business success.

“Your odds of achieving a goal go up immensely when you have a plan,” remarked Chen. The business professionals attending his luncheon, sponsored by International Special Events Society Seattle and Ray’s Boathouse, were there because they had social media accounts, but wanted to know how to use them effectively. Upon arrival, Chen encouraged participants to get on their Twitter accounts and pose a social media quandary they were experiencing.

Some people were unsure of how to use their Twitter accounts and the #ises hashtag for the day’s event. Chen gently reminded people to mingle and ask for help. He believes, “Learning is tribal.” What you don’t know about social media, ask a friend or colleague for advice or a tutorial. Odds are there are many people out there that would be delighted to help you learn.

© Fire Eyes Photography 2012

John Chen’s 3 Tips for Social Media Business Success:

Tip #1) Pick Three

Email, blog, website, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, FourSquare, LinkedIn – the world is awash in social media options. Where do you focus your energy? Chen advises that you pick three things and concentrate your efforts on doing those well. “Email still works,” says Chen. When you’re at a business event or amid your various personal networks, ask for business cards and “grow your database” by following up with people and having your email message link to your business page.

Along that same vein, when you blog regularly, like I do, you can ask visitors to sign up for information about your special area of expertise and thus further grow your database and potential client base.

Twitter is Chen’s preferred social media platform for business engagement. He has seen some success from Facebook when a “Like” turns into a customer, but he believes Facebook is where you place an ad and Twitter is where your business can regularly impact customers. In a 2012 monthly sampling, 42% of Twitter users (465 million worldwide, 107.7 million in the U.S.) utilized the site to learn about products and services. 65% of Fortune 100 companies have Twitter accounts.  Over 175 million tweets are sent per day!

© Fire Eyes Photography 2012

Tip #2) Measure

Analyze conversion rates for your company. How many contacts that came in off your website turned into paying clients? If you don’t know your measurements for the company you work for – ask! This makes you a better salesperson. Videos on company websites are a highly effective way inform and engage a potential client. Over 50% of the Web’s traffic is users watching video content!

© Fire Eyes Photography 2012

Tip #3) Innovate

Chen shared an example of an effective hashtag (#SoMeT – Social Media and Tourism) that started on Twitter and turned into a conference and money-making venture for its founders. All by way of savvy hashatagging, social media interaction motivated conference attendees to purchase conference tickets. $595 tickets that generated over $90K that first conference year! You can make money via social media, particularly if it’s something that has never been done before.

© Fire Eyes Photography 2012

“You may not want all your followers as customers.” Chen said this in response to a question from Kate Kovalick (Creative Coverings) regarding how to turn personal Twitter followers into business followers. Focus your business energy on targeting the followers that might turn into real business. He advised Kovalick to blog and tweet about concerns that are frequently raised by her current clientele. Use FAQ’s to educate new and existing clients. “In the end, the client cares about the problem that’s in front of them.”

© Fire Eyes Photography 2012

Chef Kristi Brown-Wokoma (Zinnia Bistro) wanted to know how to be a restaurateur and also keep up with the demands of social media. “Is there a way to achieve balance?” she wanted to know. Chen observed that a successful small business might not participate in social media because they’re spending so much time on day-to-day operations. That’s okay, but if you have a plan, you can leverage your social interaction to work for you and your business whether you need more business or not. Without a plan it’s understandable to feel like Kristi does, a little overwhelmed.  You need to make a plan then execute that plan!

Fired up!

John Chen (@Big Kid) can be found on Twitter. It was wonderful to hear some of his advice and contemplate my own social media plan. Part of that plan involves what you’re reading right now. I blog to inspire and share information I find useful. Blogging also allows me to connect with my friends, colleagues, and clients. I can’t wait to see you in person at a future event!

~Trishann Couvillion, Corporate and Special Event Photographer

Fire Eyes Photography (@fire_eyes on Twitter)

Source: http://fireeyesphotography.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/learning-is-tribal-and-we-are-social/

1 Commit to building a pocket of greatness on your mini-bus (diagnostic tool Jimcollins.com) Use it wth team

2 Get the right people in the right seats on your mini-bus

3 Double your questions to statements ratio

4 Confront the brutal facts, have a brutal facts meeting (not meaning, not what to do, no opinions, just facts, will change your conversation)

5 Find your personal hedgehog and be great at it (Passion, Economic Engine, ?) (Passionate, Genetic Occurring (what are you wired for), Where You Can Be Useful that society value)

6 Commit to a 20 mile march consistent with your hedgehog (log time into spreadsheet, 50/30/20 over course of a year)

7 Get a high return on your next luck event! Who is your best luck? What are you doing to honor and cherish that relationship?

8 Start a STOP DOING list. - More than 3 priorities, you don’t have any

9 First stop doing, turn off your electronic gadget, where do you get the pockets of quietude, 1 day every 2 weeks, TURN EVERYTHING OFF, no electronic connections, think.

10 Set a personal vision of 3 parts, Core Values for a lifetime (might pass on), Core Purpose (enduring, how will the world be different because I was here), 10-15 year BHAG (Big hairy Audacious Goal)

I made some big leaps today and I’m poised to save $1,875 in 2012.

It all started when the battery in my Sprint Overdrive device started to die.  I was just going to replace it, but I wasn’t to my upgrade eligibility date yet, so I waited.  During the wait, I called AT&T and started piecing together that I could review my plan and save a whole lot of money!!

1) I changed from 3000 shared minute to a 900 min per month
I originally had 5 phones on this plan, but over the past years, I got rid of 4 of them and went back to just me on the plan.
2) I got rid of my Sprint Overdrive and turned my iPhone into a hotspot
Even though I was grandfathered in with unlimited iPhone data ;-(, I was only using 2G/month on my phone, so 4G/month should be sufficient.
It was going to cost me $50 to upgrade my device, now I have a shot at selling it on eBay and getting money back.
In addition while I love Sprint and the Overdrive, the battery only lasted 3 hours and it was very slow to turn on, meaning it was off most of the time.
With the iPhone, it’s always on, it’s one less device to lug around so I’ll think it’ll be more functional.
3) I went from group unlimited texting to individual texting
I saved $10 here because I’m not longer on a group plan.
4) I changed from a business plan to a personal plan
You’ll see why in a moment.
5) I then took advantage of my Harley Davidson Owners Group Lifetime Membership benefit which has a 17% discount with AT&T
I had to do this to take advantange of my HOG discount which requires an individual account.
Because the 900 min is not unlimited I get 17% back of that too, if it’s unlimited then there’s no discount.  17% of $60 = $10.20 per month x 12 = $122.40 savings per year.
6) I’m ordering a sparkling new iPhone 4S for $400 and then I’ll put my prestine iPhone 4 up for sale on craigslist for $400, the current going rate, meaning FREE upgrade!

Before
$140 - 3000 shared minutes
$ 30 - unlimited data
$ 30 - unlimited group texting
$ 60 - Sprint Overdrive
—-
$260/month

After
$ 60 - 900 shared minute, with weekend and nightly calling
$ 20 - unlimited texting, also free cell to cell minutes
$ 45 - 4G data with 5 device hotspot
——————
$125
-$ 21.25    17% HOG Discount ($21.25 x 12 = $255/year savings for this discount alone!)
————–
$103.75/month

$260 - $103.75 = $156.25 x 12 months = $1,875.00

Even with $10/1G data overage and .40/min cell overage and I have rollover minutes, this should fit my lifestyle at the present moment and give me plenty of room to go over when I need to.

If you’re continuing to cost cut, have you reviewed your telecommunications plan and is there something you can do to save money?

I’ve been keeping up on the latest ideas for holiday parties and if you’re planning your now, here are some of the coolest ideas I’ve come across.

1. Ice Carving - Get a block of ice, light it from the bottom and get a drill to carve words into the ice. Interactive and fun, drilling ice is cool, Creative Ice in Seattle does this.

2. Ceviche Martini - I’ve been to two parties with this cool food, you choose the seafood and they shake it with your choice of sauce and serve in a martini glass, yum.

3. Giving Back - Times are tough, do a team building event you can feel good about by volunteering part of a day at a non-profit.

4. Food Truck Catering - Food Trucks are hot and they serve amazing food such as the Bacon Jam I’ve been eating from Skillet, many are for hire and will get you amazing food for your party. Also you can also use companies like Parties That Cook to help you make your own food.

5. Cell phone photo scavenger hunts - This is a new breaking trend, using your cell phone and camera to organize fun photo scavenger hunts during the holiday party. Always leads to some hilarious photos.

Speaking of which, this is the 3rd Annual Geotouring Holiday and this year we’re using the cell phone scavenger hunt with Facebook-like status updates, real time high score list and over 100 missions to complete in 2 hours. As a holiday gift and thank you for being a fan, I’m giving away the first 50 tickets away free, and all other tickets are 50% off. Where else are you going to get a cool holiday event for $13? Every day 4-6pm Nov 25th to Dec 24th.

http://tinyurl.com/gtholidayFREE - First 50 registrations are FREE!

http://tinyurl.com/gtholiday - 50% off all subsequent registrations

Happy Holidays and here’s to celebrating with your most important teams in your life.

-John Chen

CEO, Geoteaming

http://geoteaming.com

john@geoteaming.com

(206) 856-8491

How does the Cascadia Educational Conference do it?

45% of the value comes from in-kind donations by our generous sponsors who give back to the industry by donating their goods and services to this event.
38% of that comes from registration, cash sponsorship, tradeshow, hosted buyer and silent auction.
17% comes from the 100’s of hours from the volunteer team that puts on this event.

So instead of paying $1,000 per person like a international conference, you only pay $250 and much less travel and expenses and still get world class international education and events by Meeting Local. What has to happen for you to not lose $750 of value?

The Cascadia Educational Conference is one of the most cost effective, return on investment benefits for joining MPI and keeping your meeting knowledge cutting edge. When are YOU going to make sure you have budget and sign up for the Cascadia Educational Conference Mar 4-6, 2012 in Tacoma, WA for the heART of the Meeting!

Register today at http://mpicascadia.com.

-John Chen
MPI Board Member, Director of Industry Relations
CEO, Geoteaming http://geoteaming.com
(206) 856-8491

I was doing research for a new book I’m writing, 50 Digital Team Building Games (May 2012 http://teambuildinggames.eventbrite.com) and decided to participate in a Twitter chat. I thought it was so cool, that I asked to moderate. Luckily they said yes and invited me in. Little did I know this chat needed a little help so I took the chance to step in, cover for someone who needed a last minute change and got a chance to do new things and bring new life to the Twitter chat.

It led me to a Skype interview for a research project that we had a blast talking on. And that led to a referral to join when this group hangs out.

I did a similar feat when MPIWSC (MPI Washington State Chapter) asked me to co-chair their Cascadia Educational Conference (http://mpicascadia.com a joint collaboration between MPIWSC and MPI-OR Oregon Chapter) which I discovered is a $250,000 conference by the time you total the revenue and in-kind sponsorship! This led to massive exposure, winning the MPI Supplier of the Year award and most of all the trust of my colleagues that when asked, I can deliver.

(Dedicated to @hduckworth, http://leadsolintl.com who has a tremendous passion for Volunteer Leadership) While I know many people join associations with dreams of immediate new sales, I thought I’d offer these 7 tips to maximize your volunteering efforts for your personal and professional returns.

1. Set expectations on long term goals. - Too many people are disappointed when they don’t book business in the first year, take at least a 3 year time frame to evaluate your return.
2. The more you give, the more you get. - Get involved! Look for excuses to align your goals with the organizations goals and do something.
3. When asked, say YES! - Too many people say no because they have too much to do, we all have too much to do, when the opportunity comes around, say YES as much as possible because you don’t know when that chance will come around to you again.
4. When you say YES, do your absolute best. - Whatever you do, if you’re going to say NO, say NO before you say YES, as saying NO after YES never looks good. Also, do more than expected, don’t wait to be asked, if you see a challenge, then use the opportunity to solve it and your brand as someone who gets things done will be noticed!
5. Look at YES as your best training opportunity. - If you thought the educational sessions were your big win, think again. Saying YES to a volunteer opportunity means you get the chance to learn a new tool, service or process without your boss or a paying client to beat you up if you mess up. In a volunteer organization, they’re just thankful to have you there and will give you more (not infinite) latitude to learn and grow. Studies show that on-the-job training is way more effective than just going to class as you see what works and doesn’t work in a short amount of time. I know I’ve personally learned more about technology selection and application after chairing a conference then listening to any 60 minute breakout.
6. When in a position, ASK others. - When you get into leadership position, use the most powerful tool you have, the ASK. This is a power tip from Chris Matthew’s HARDBALL book, it shows that you can get someone to do something for you AND they will appreciate that you thought of them first. Don’t worry about NOs (people who haven’t learned #3) just keep ASKing and eventually you’ll find people you’re friends for life with.
7. Reap the rewards of relationship. - The real reward for volunteering is the chance to REALLY get to know amazing people in the industry. I know when I ASKed Carrie Zimmerman, CMP to be my vice-chair, I would have never guessed that we’ve become great friends, share our love of food, and that she would save me in multiple dimensions at the conference by taking over the technology implementation and silent auction. Oh yeah, and she became an expert in both areas including a 30% increase in silent auction revenue! This and many more relationships have led to more referrals then I could have ever asked for and the ability to create unique partnerships in less time when I need them.

So if you think you have no marketing budget or want to increase your influence in your industry, look at volunteering, give back to the industry that’s given something to you and soon you’ll be viewed as an industry veteran and subject matter expert. What tips or stories do you have for volunteering as marketing?

NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge Winners

The NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge presented by MasterCard Worldwide, in association with Kathryn W. Davis, took place on October 6 in New York City. Out of over 15,000 NFTE students across the nation, there were 28 Regional Winners selected to travel to New York for the top prizes. Hayley Hoverter and Shomari Patterson, our Greater LA representatives, impressed the judges with the viability of their unique business ideas and focus on social responsibility. They advanced to both the semi-final and final rounds of competition, and we are excited to share the following results:

First Place:
Hayley Hoverter (pictured left)
Sweet (dis)SOLVE (sugar packets encased in soluble rice paper to eliminate sugar packet waste)
CET: Michael Jaquias
Downtown Magnets High School
Hayley won $10,000 from Mastercard to advance her business or education goals, a $5,000 college scholarship from the Coleman Entrepreneurial Scholarship Program, and an additional investment offer of $5,000 from Daymond John, Founder and CEO of FUBU who served as one of her judges. Judges Tina Wells, CEO of Buzz Marketing Group and Shazi Visram, Founder and CEO of HAPPYBABY joined together to match John with an additional $5,000 pledge. Wells also offered marketing support to Sweet (dis)SOLVE and Visram committed to an introduction for the product at Whole Foods markets.
Hayley shares, “I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity. I am very fortunate that NFTE not only gave me a taste of the business world, but also empowered me to take the initiative to help solve the large issues that I personally care about.”
Check out Hayley’s winning presentation!

Come join these established authors and learn the secrets and realities behind their books:

Dr. Simon Priest, PhD, author of 13 books on the experiential field, a ‘Godfather’ of experiential education.
Laura Leist, professional organizer, CEO of Eliminate Chaos and author of 8 books including Eliminate The Chaos at Work http://eliminatethechaosatwork.com
Chris Rugh, author of 1-800-AWESOME, Tactics for Making $10,000/hr and founder of Custom Toll Free, http://chrisrugh.com.
Adrian Segar, author of Conferences That Work, is at the forefront of cool meetings, http://www.conferencesthatwork.com/
and more authors to come!

Here are the questions I’ll be asking:
#eventprofs Q1: What is your name, your book, your website and the book you’re reading now.
#eventprofs Q2: Why did you choose to write your first book?
#eventprofs Q3: What cool unexpected benefits have you gotten from writing a book?
#eventprofs Q4: Some say writing a book is only 10% of the process.  What’s been the best way to market/sell your book?
#eventprofs Q5: What would you do different if you were writing a new book today?
#eventprofs Q&A: OK let’s open it to questions, please ask a question and lablel it Q# so authors can choose which question to answer, thanks!
#eventprofs CLOSE: Please write a haiku (5/7/5 syllables) to sum up your twitter chat experience from today, THANK YOU in advance for your time!
#eventprof The chat log from today is located at (URL)

To join, create a Twitter account and go to http://tweetchat.com/room/eventprofs on Thursday October 20th, 2011 at 9AM PST, 12PM EST for 1 hour.

This promises to be a high value session with great contributions from successful authors.

-John Chen
CEO, Geoteaming
john@geoteaming.com
(206) 856-8491

She also gives a key tip on how to keep her internal team on track while working on so many logistics, something you can use immediately with your large projects!

Hoan Do, Geoteaming and a few others of us are looking to WIN the International Examiner’s 2011 API (Asian Pacific Islander) Reader’s Choice Awards!

Can you PLEASE help us out and vote for the following slate and please put us in contact with those who can fill in areas that we don’t have yet, thanks!

-John Chen
CEO, Geoteaming
2011 International Examiner’s 2011 API Reader’s Choice Award Candidate for Favorite Entrepreneur/Business Owner

Vote Here, by clicking the link and then clicking Submit

http://tinyurl.com/geoteamingwin

And post to the Geoteaming Fan Page when you’re done so we know you voted!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Geoteaming/126369671680

If you’re in a hurry:

Favorite Entrepreneur/Business Owner
John Chen
CEO of Geoteaming, http://geoteaming.com 14th year in the business and has one of the FUNNEST companies ever, team building with technology.

Best Youth Mentor
Hoan Do
http://www.facebook.com/succeedingintherealworld, Author at 23, this guy is amazing, helping 1,000s of college students Succeed In The Real World!.

And if you have time to cut and paste:

Best Dim Sum Worth Rolling Out of Bed for
Jade Garden - A Seattle Dim Sum Institution
Best Finger-Licking Korean BBQ
Kaya - Awesome new Korean in Shoreline, WA
Best Fresh Sushi
Shiro’s - the Best Sushi in Seattle
Best Happy Hour
Daniel’s Broiler - Great happy hour, my good friend Jeannette Davidson, works with Schwartz Bros.
Best Bang-for-Your-Buck Restaurant
Tsue Chong Co - Best Cheap Eats
Favorite Chinese Restaurant
Favorite Vietnamese Restaurant
Favorite Thai Restaurant
Wild Ginger - Just ate there after MPI-PCMA Summit!
Best Bubble Tea Café
Favorite Local Artist
Best Local Musician/Band
Favorite Local Community Activist
Kip Tokuda, founder of ACLF Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation http://aclfnorthwest.org/
Favorite Member of Seattle City Council
Bruce Harrell, the ONLY Asian on Seattle’s City Council
Favorite Politician that’s Not a Politician
Favorite Entrepreneur/Business Owner
John Chen, CEO of Geoteaming, http://geoteaming.com 14th year in the business and has one of the FUNNEST companies ever, team building with technology.
Favorite “Mom and Pop” Business
Favorite Neighborhood Coffee Shop
Favorite Neighborhood Bookstore
Third Place Books - A great community bookstore and meeting space.
Favorite Philanthropist
Scott Oki - This guy has served on 14 board at one time!  He has given a LOT back.
Favorite Corporate Giver
Microsoft - With it’s matching program and proliferation of API’s, Microsoft is a philanthropic force in the NW
Event you look forward to attending each year
Kollaboration http://www.kollaborationseattle.org/ - Hoan Do is judging this year, this is an amazing event of Empowerment through Entertainment.
Favorite Executive Director of an Organization
Starr McDonald, Executive Development Institute - http://ediorg.org this organization is the Asian MBA in Seattle and seeks to be the Diversity University of the NW!
Most Beloved, Invaluable Volunteer
Best Youth Mentor
Hoan Do - http://www.facebook.com/succeedingintherealworld, Author at 23, this guy is amazing, helping 1,000s of college students Succeed In The Real World!.
Favorite Community Center Last Year’s Winner: FILIPINO COMMUNITY CENTER
ACRS - Asian Community and Resource Services http://acrs.org, spoke her last year at the EDI Leadership Tomorrow and learned how much they help the Asian Community.
Defender of Green Causes
Best Advocate for API Health
Favorite Writer
Best Karaoke Bar
Favorite Local Newscaster/Journalist
Lily Jang - ljang@tribune.com http://www.q13fox.com/about/station/newsteam/jang/ -
Favorite Park to Return to Nature
Discovery Park - http://www.seattle.gov/parks/environment/discovparkindex.htm - Seattle’s biggest park at 534 acres, this is THE place to Return to Nature, the site of the world’s first Geoteaming event!
Favorite Youth Advocate